Yarn tensioning mechanism



April 12, 1960 J. H. PATRICK 2,932,325

YARN TEN-SIGNING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 18, 1956 WWW! United States Patent The present invention relates to a yarn tensioning mechanism and more particularly to a yarn tensioning 2 32,32: Patented Apr. 12, 1960 -2 the position of the yarn tensioning mechanism when a slack occurs in the pile yarn.

I Referring more particularly to Fig. l, the pile fabric 1 is generally comprised of a backing 2 and a plurality of loops 3 which form the face of the fabric.

The backing 2 is formed in the conventional manner bythe binder yarn 4 and 5 which 'are drawn from a binder yarn beam or'roll 6. The binder yarn 4 and 5 isdrawn in the direction of the arrow over guide rollers 7 and through eyelets 8 on shed-forming binder yarn heddles 9. As is'conventional in the art, the binder yamheddles, 9 are moved vertically relative to each other to spread the binder yarns 4 and-5 apart to form a shed mechanism for use on machines for weaving pile fabrics,

such as velvet carpets.

' In weaving pile fabrics, it is the practice to form loops from the pile yarn by spreading'the pile, yarn apart to form a shed, inserting pile wires in the shed formed by the pile yarn, and reversing the shed so that the pile yarn is looped over the pile wires. When the pile wires are withdrawn, loops will be formed by the pile yarn. Such loops form the face of the pile fabric- In weaving certain types of pile fabric, such as velvet carpets, the loops formed by the pile yarn are of unequal height. In order to obtain these loops of unequal height, pilewires of different heights are used. found that since the pile wires of'lower height require less pile yarn to form the loops of'lower height, the pile yarn will tend to become slack. This slack in the pile It has been 10. Weft thread 11 is then inserted in the shed 10 by a shuttle (not shown) between the binder yarn 4 and 5 at rightangles thereto and heddles 9 are moved relative to each other in the opposite direction to reverse the shed 10. and loop the binder yarn 4 and 5 around the Weft thread L1 to form. the backing 2.

' The loops 3 which form the face of the pile fabric 1 are formed in a similarly conventional manner by pile yarn 12 and 13. The pile yarn 12 and 13 is fed by a pile'yarn beam 14 in the direction of the arrow and is passed around a cradle pivot 15 and a guide roller 16 depending therefrom. The yarn 12 and 13 is fed by rotating the beam 14 by any conventional or desired mechanism. The pile yarn 12 and 13 is passed through eyelets 17 in pile yarn heddles 18 so that when the heddles are yarn produces a pile fabric in which the loops arenot tightly packed, thereby detracting fromthe appearance of the pile' fabric and reducing its resistance to wear,

one object of the prese'nt invention is to provide an improved machine for weaving pile fabric in which the pil'e 'yarn is under constant tension.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a yarn tensioning mechanism for a weaving machine which will automatically keep the pile-yarn under'tension.

moved vertically infone direction relative to each other, a shed 19 will be formed. In this position the weft thread 11 and a pile wire 20 is inserted in the shed '19 generally at right anglesjto the pile wires '12 and 13 and the pile yarn heddles 18 are vertically shifted relative to each other in opposite directions to reverse the shed 19 and to permit the pile yarn 12 and 13 to be looped over the pile wire 20 to form the loops 3. The pile wires 20 may be, inserted by any conventional or desired mechanism.

The, pile fabric 1 formed in the manner described is re- Another object of'the present invention is to provide 7 a yarn tensioning mechanism for a weaving machine which will keep the pile yarn under constant tension regardless of the presence of pile wires of unequal heights.

A further object of'the presentinvention is to provide a yarn tensioning mechanism which is simple tooperate and inexpensive to'manufacture and maintain.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claim, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein: h

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic elevational view, partly in section, showing a machine forweaving pile fabric embodying the present invention, portions ,of which-are greatly exaggerated for convenience of illustration;

moved from the'loom by a take-oh roller 21.

Q It, will, of course, be understood that the method describedfabove is only one of the many methods used for makingi'pile' fabric, and it will be further understood that itIwithinthe scope .of the present invention that the Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the loom shown in Fig. 1 showing the pile yarn being fed to the yarn tensioning mechanism of the present invention; a

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top sectional view, greatly exaggerated, of theyarn tensioning mechanism of the present invention taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the tensioning mechanism in its normal position when there is no slack in the pile yarn; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3 showing pile fabric 1 bemade-by any desired or conventional method. I

In order to form apattern on the face of the pile fabric, as is common invelvet carpets, the loops 3 are formed of different heights! For example, in the drawings, loops' 3a are of one height and loops 3b are of a lower height. In order to form loops 3a and 3b of different heights, the pile wires 20 which are inserted in the shed 19 to form the loops are of different heights. Thus, in

the drawings, pile wires 20a of one height are inserted in shed 19 to form the higher loops 3a when the shed is reversed, and pile wires 20b of a lower height are inserted in the shed 19 to form the lower loops 3b when the shed is reversed. This produces a pile fabric having loops of dilferent heights to form a pattern on the face of the fabric.

In order to prevent the pile yarn 12 and 13 from becoming slack when the lower pile wires 20b are inserted in the shed 19 to form the lower loops 3b, a resilient tensioning sleeve 21 is provided around the core 22 of the guide roller 16 (Figs. 1 and 2). The core 22 of the guide roller 16 may be of metal, such as steel, and has the re silient sleeve 21 aflixed thereto by any suitable means, such as by cementing the sleeve 21 thereto.

As seen more fully in Fig. 3, the pile yarn 12 and 13 16 under such tension so as to compress the resilient;

sleeve 21 into a series of valleys 23. The sleeve 21.nor-

mally remains in this position until a low pile wire 20b 3. (Fig. 7) is inserted in the shed 19 to form the low loops 3b. When the low pile wire 20b is inserted in the shed 9 1 p le ya n 2 and 13 will be used t f rm th ow. loops thus creating a slack in the'pl eyarm when s slack ca e r i ient sl ev ll lll expand (F to ak p the ackan t ma ic lly ten icnt e pile yarn 12 and 13. When a higher pile wire 20:; is again inserted in the shed 19. to form the higher loops 3a, the pile yarn 12 and 113 will again be pressed into.

the resilient sleeve 21 to form the v alleys 23 therein, as In this manner the resilient sleeve 21.

shown in Fig. 3. automatically keeps the pile yarn 12 and 13 under eon? stant tension and prevents any slack therein.

The resilient sleeve 21 surrounding the metal core 22 of guide roller 15 which keeps the pile yarn 12 and 13 under tension may be of any suitable material which has the property of contraction and expansion. Preferably, the tensioning resilient sleeve 21 is made of sponge rubher which has a natural tendency to contract and expand and which is soft so as not to damage the pile yarn 12 and 13. It will, of course, be understood that any mate: rial having a natural tendency to contract and expand may be used for the sleeve 21. The resilient sleeve 21 is of suificient thickness so that a slack in the pile yarn of any degree will always be taken up by the resilient sleeve 21 to keep the pile yarn 12 and 13 under constant tension.

In operation, binder yarn 4 and 5 and pile yarn 12.

and 13 is fed to the shed-forming heddles 9 and 18, respectively. The binder yarn 4 and 5 (Fig. 1) ,iss'pread by 'heddles 9 to form shed 10 and is wovenwith'the weft threads 11 to form the backing 2 of pile fabric lby inserting the weft threads 11 into the shed 10 between binder yarn 4 and 5 and reversing the shed 11) to loop the binder yarn 4 and 5 over and under thew'eft threads 11.

The pile yarn 12 and 13 is passed over pivot 15 and tension roller 16 and spread by heddles18 to form the shed 19. The higher pile wires a and the lower pile wires 20b are inserted in the shed 19 between pile yarn, 1'2 and 3 n n the h d i r ver e the pile yam,

12 and 13 is looped over the pile wires 20g and-l lbto the shorter loops 3b, thereby causing the pile yarn 12 and 13 to slacken slightly. As soon as the pile yarn 12 and 13 slackens, sponge rubber sleeve 21 will expand (Fig. 4) to take up the slack and automatically tension the pile yarn '12 and 13. A 7

When a higher pile wire 20a is again inserted in shed 12, the pile yarn-12 and 13 will again be tensioned and As various changes may be made inthe form, construc-.

tion' and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative.

and not'in a limiting sense. l Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a mechanism for weaving pile fabric, a pile wire assembly having pile wires of diiferent heights thereonv for forming loops of difierent heights, a beam for supply: ing pile yarn to said assembly, means for forming said pile yarn into ashed, means interposed between said shed-forming'means and said beam including a guide roller having a resilient surface, and means for passing all of, said pile .yarn'over said guide roller in suflicient tension to normally compress the resilient surface of' saidg'uide. roller, portions of the resilient surface of said, guide. roller being adapted to expand to take up the slack in the pile yarn used to form loops when raised 7 over the lower pile wires of said different height pile form higher loops 3a and lower loops 3b. In order to;

prevent the pile yarn 12 and 13 from becoming slack because of the presence of shorter pile wires 20!), the pile,

yarn 12 and 13 passes over the sponge rubbefsleevell of the roller 16 with sufficient tension to compress the resilient rubber sleeve 21 into valleys 23 (Fig.3), When the shorter pile wire 20b is inserted in shed 19jand the shed is reversed, less pile yarn 12 and 13 is used 'tg form] wires while the remaining portions of said resilient surface remain compressed by the pile yarn used to form loops when raised over the higher pile wires of said different height pile wires.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 428,902," Foster r r r r v, May 27, 1890 i 651,321 Alvord In June 5, 1900 1,707,374 Turner Apr. 2, 1929 2,709,458 .Hoeselba rth May 31, 1955 2,715,918

Eisler et a1. Aug. 23, 1955 

